Pages

Saturday, November 29, 2008

We're in Las Vegas for the weekend which wraps up a few weeks of travel for us. Today we met up with some other TNT alumni and decided to go for an 8 mile walk. Instead we went 11 miles, but we did have a great SAG stop with big, tasty Margaritas.

Monday, November 24, 2008

There are about 6 posts that I need to write - about mentoring for TNT's Peak Performance team (which is awesome), about the trip to Tucson, and about a bunch of other stuff.

For now, I'll tell you about my new workout mat. On Monday night the TNT training session is an hour of core work. Remember when old skool aerobic classes would finish with 5 minutes of torture abs? It's like that, only much more intense and it goes for a solid hour.

To soften the workout, I treated myself to a new extra cushy workout mat. My old mat is a thin yoga mat and it doesn't really soften much. Today was my first workout on my super-cushioned mat and at first all was good. Then, depending on the exercise, when I moved around the mat made a sort of flatulent sound. Lift, poot, lift, poot. It's tough enough to do the abdominal workout without laughing at faux-farts.

I'm not sure how I'm going to explain this problem when I return it to the store tomorrow.

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Hey cyclists, did you hear that there's a new metric century ride on December 6?The ride is the Milestone Challenge and benefits San Diego endurance athlete Skip Gleavey. This summer, Skip was in cycling accident which has left him paralyzed below the waist. Proceeds from the Milestone Challenge will go to help cover his health care costs during his rehabilitation.

Skip has completed marathons, century rides and triathlons. He did those events while recovering from heart surgery and Stage 4 Lymphoma. Now he needs to conquer another challenge - life after a devastating accident.

The ride will be a typically beautiful Southern California course starting in Solana Beach and going up the Pacific coast.

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Steve and I got to Pasadena after a pretty stressful, traffic-filled drive. I spent about a hour on the road wondering where all these people were going on a Saturday afternoon. Then I looked at the sunset and thought - hey that's smoke. Damn. Wildfires.

We made it in the nick of time to pick up my race number. Most of the fitness expo was already closed. When I picked up my number they said to check the website at 4 am. They may need to cancel the race due to poor air quality.

It would be sad to cancel the race, but it might be for the best. No one wants to have a race that's dangerous to the participants or spectators. Between the heat and the air quality, perhaps another day will be safer. When it comes right down to it - a race is relatively unimportant in comparison to the big events in life like the damage the fires can do.

Hopefully, the fires will be quickly extinguished with minimal damage and injury.

URGENT EVENT UPDATE!

We are in consultation with air-quality experts, as well as health and fire officials, to determine if last-minute adjustments to our event must be made as a result of fires burning locally. If the event must be cancelled due to poor air quality, this determination will be made at 4:00 a.m., and all persons who are signed up for our newsletter will receive a notification to this effect. We thank you for your support and patience.

Friday, November 14, 2008

It never changes. My race is Sunday. What makes me miserable in a race? Heat. Exactly how many races do I need to do in sweltering temperatures?

Let's read this warning from today's final pre-race newsletter email.

Pasadena Marathon

Final Pre-event Newsletter

RACE DAY TEMPERATURE ADVISORY

Unseasonably high temperatures expected for this weekend can present some Race Day dangers which we are taking very seriously, and we implore our participants to do so as well.

The forecast is for 90°F weather. In case you've missed tearing a few pages from the old calendar - it's November. The average high in Pasadena is 74°F; the record high: 90°F (1949). Yep, I'll be doing a half marathon in heat that Pasadena hasn't seen in November in 60 years.

One day I'm just going to get it over with and do a race on the surface of the sun.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

After a day of tests the pet emergency room vets were completely confounded by what was wrong with Toby. I took him home and he stumped us all by getting better on his own.

My bout with the croup is almost complete. Other than a lingering cough, I'm good. It's still a bummer since that cough/cold kept me pretty well out of cardio activities and I'm really worried about the half marathon this weekend. Ah, well. I guess I'll suffer on through it.

I did my first TNT Peak Performance Team workout last night. One hour - all core - all the time. That's a full hour of abdominals with only quick breaks for back. Yikes. My abadabas were screaming for mercy.

About Sneaker Stories

Sneaker Stories started as the blog of my marathon runs and marathon travels. My love of marathons expanded to include a bunch of endurance sports - triathlon, swimming and cycling.
I'm a participant and mentor for Team in Training and a fundraiser for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.